The German government says it wants to ensure that Jewish and Muslim parents can get their sons circumcised despite a local court ruling that the operation is a crime when performed for religious reasons. A spokesman for the chancellor said the government was committed to protecting religious freedom and circumcisions carried out in a responsible way should not lead to prosecution.

The former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been appointed United Nations' special envoy for education. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Mr Brown would work with key partners to help galvanize support for UN efforts to achieve quality education for each child by 2015. Mr Brown said expanding education had been a longstanding passion of his.

Former fighters in the Tamil Tiger guerrilla force in Sri Lanka have been selected to represent the country in competitive sport. More from Charles Haviland in Colombo.

Former members of the LTTE or Tamil Tigers have, it seems, swapped their battlefield guns for sports ground rifles. The secretary of the sports ministry Nishantha Ranatunga told the BBC a successful sports talents footing camp among former Tigers was held last month. Out of 135 people, 16 including one or two women were selected for a national sports coup, four each in the disciplines of shooting, swimming, athletics and cricket. Mr Ranatunga pointed out that some of the shooters used to be LTTE snipers and some of the top swimmers used to be in the Sea Tigers, the LTTE’s naval wing.